Roads reopened, people allowed to return after gas leak at Soquel Avenue

LIVE OAK — A county contractor broke a 6-inch diameter gas line on Soquel Avenue that prompted the evacuation of dozens of homes, a preschool and a veterinary hospital on Tuesday.

No one was injured, but residents were asked to leave or shelter in place to avoid inhaling potentially dangerous levels of natural gas, said deputy April Skalland. Authorities closed Soquel Avenue from Seventh Avenue to Capitola Road about 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

A contractor, Salinas-based Dilbeck and Sons Inc., hit the line at 2250 Soquel Ave. and reported it at 9:55 a.m., said Santa Cruz County spokeswoman Dinah Phillips.

The crew was building a new county behavioral health unit to replace one at Dominican Hospital, said Phillips.

The crew had finished demolition of the old building and was digging a trench when they struck the gas line, she said. A backhoe operator hit it, Central Fire spokesman Mike DeMars said.

The work was near La Fonda Avenue but was unrelated to the recent La Fonda Bridge demolition.

Authorities initially evacuated homes on Edgrace Lane and five businesses on Soquel Avenue and Capitola Road: Harbor Veterinary Hospital, Caltrans, Public Storage, Rossi's Body Shop and Towing and an office of Palo Alto Medical Foundation. DeMars said air quality tests and wind then prompted a wider area of voluntary evacuations about noon.

That area included homes from Morrissey Boulevard to Prospect Heights to Soquel Avenue. Authorities knocked on doors of homes and sent automated phone messages that advised residents to leave.

“It's better to have a bigger area to make it safer for everyone,” said Skalland.

A temporary center for evacuees was set up at Santa Cruz Bible Church at 440 Frederick St. Employees and a few students at Harbor High School also were evacuated to a church on Roxas Street, Skalland said.

Leaders at LifeSpring Preschool at 2560 Soquel Ave. had parents pick up some of its 60 children about noon. Teachers also shepherded about 30 kids to Dominican Hospital where parents could retrieve them.

Parent Angela Edmond came to get her 3-year-old son, Logan.

“I was very concerned when the school called and said there was a gas leak,” Edmond said.

Police from Capitola and Santa Cruz sent Nixle alerts to subscribers that the area had been evacuated and the road closed.

Some residents on La Fonda said they did not get the message to leave. Other residents refused to go, Skalland said.

Rogelio Juarez, 48, lives in an apartment with his four children on La Fonda Avenue. He said he was at Costco when the gas line broke and authorities blocked his route home.

Because the La Fonda Bridge over Highway 1 had been partly demolished Monday night for reconstruction, he couldn't drive to his house. Eventually he walked to his apartment and warned others in his complex to leave. He took his children to DeLaveaga Park for the afternoon as a smell of gas hung in the air.

“It started smelling so bad,” Juarez said.

At Harbor Veterinary Hospital at 2202 Soquel Ave., some employees said they heard a hissing sound about 10 a.m. — which authorities later said was gas escaping from the pipe. Firefighters arrived and told them to evacuate.

Kerrin Hoban, veterinarian and co-owner, said six dogs and five cats were taken to Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter on Seventh Avenue.

“It was a very calm evacuation,” Hoban said. “We always have carriers ready for emergencies.”

Residents can register cellphones for emergency notifications from the Santa Cruz County Regional 911 Center at www.sccecc.org. To sign up for free Nixle text and email alerts from Santa Cruz County law enforcement agencies, log on to the following websites.